Carduelis tristis. Up until today we had seen just one American Goldfinch (AMGO) at Cone Welder (http://cone.berkeley.edu) in Texas. But this morning we saw either 4 or 5 of them there. Personally, here at my home in Los Altos, I don't get many AMGO's at my niger feeders. However, they do seem to appear just before and after a storm, so in other words, winter time.
AMGO are a fairly common, small (5 in. or so) bird, with a short conical bill. During this time of year they are in non-breeding plumage, which means that both males and females look about alike, being gray-brown, with some yellow on the throat and a dark bill. The male breeding AMGO is a bright yellow bird with a black forehead and wings, a black tail and a pale bill. The female breeding AMGO is a dull yellow-olive, darker above, with blackish wings and conspicuous wing bars.
A little bit about alphabetic "alpha" codes: "Alphabetic (“alpha”) codes, abbreviations of English or scientific bird names, have long been employed by ornithologists. They allow quicker data entry than filling out the full English or scientific name of a species and they can also serve to cross-check other recorded names or numeric data. The U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) has long used alpha codes in banding data, and these codes have become an integral part of large ornithological programs across Canada and the United States." For more information and to get all the codes follow this link: http://www.birdpop.org/AlphaCodes.htm.
For more information on American Goldfinches, follow the link:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_goldfinch/id
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